{"id":55246,"date":"2025-08-09T11:19:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T11:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/55246\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T11:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T11:19:10","slug":"lefevere-wont-comment-except-he-does-about-evenepoel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/55246\/","title":{"rendered":"Lefevere \u2018won\u2019t comment\u2019 \u2014 except he does, about Evenepoel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patrick Lefevere insisted he wouldn\u2019t weigh in on Remco Evenepoel\u2019s surprise switch to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe<\/a>. But of course, he did.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the news broke that the double Olympic champion would be leaving Soudal Quick-Step for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Lefevere took to X to say, \u201cSince I stepped down as CEO of Soudal Quick-Step, I\u2019m no longer involved in transfers or any team matters. Agreement-wise, I\u2019m also not allowed to communicate about transfers \u2014 not even about Remco. Please don\u2019t call me. This is the only communication I will make.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, that lasted about three days. On Friday, he felt compelled to share his thoughts in his column for Het Nieuwsblad.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI knew exactly what was coming. No shock there.\u201d Lefevere didn\u2019t hold back on why Soudal-QuickStep couldn\u2019t keep Evenepoel: \u201cWe just can\u2019t match the big budgets like UAE and Red Bull anymore.\u201d He was also clear the team never intended to take the dispute to court and secured what he called a fair deal to release Evenepoel early.<\/p>\n

Looking to the future, Lefevere is banking on talent rising from within. \u201cI\u2019m hoping the next stars come straight from our own development squad,\u201d he wrote, confident the team can regroup despite the budget gap.<\/p>\n

The double Olympic gold medallist was originally signed through 2026. However, both parties agreed to end the contract early, clearing the path for Evenepoel to lead Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe starting that year.<\/p>\n

Evenepoel joins a team already stacked with Grand Tour talent. Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d, contracted since 2023, leads the German squad, while rising star Florian Lipowitz finished third overall and took home the white jersey at the Tour.<\/p>\n

His exit closes a major chapter for Soudal-QuickStep after months of swirling rumours. While Ineos Grenadiers were once linked, it was Red Bull-Bora\u2019s growing ambition\u2014and deep pockets\u2014that ultimately landed one of cycling\u2019s biggest names.<\/p>\n

Adding to the shakeup, Dylan Van Baarle<\/a>, former Paris-Roubaix winner, is joining from Visma \u2013 Lease a Bike.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve followed this team since I was a kid. Especially back when Tom Boonen was around. It feels amazing to finally join them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wolfpack\u2019s vibe is really close-knit. I can\u2019t wait to be part of it. My plan is to get back to my best for the Classics. Then help the team fight for wins, support our GC guys in the Grand Tours. And maybe grab a stage or two along the way,\u201d Van Baarle added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Patrick Lefevere insisted he wouldn\u2019t weigh in on Remco Evenepoel\u2019s surprise switch to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. But of course,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":["post-55246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}